Inflated paving-joint sealer



3. 1963 G. M. JONES INFLATED PAVING-JOINT SEALER Filed Aug. 12, 1965 INVENTOR 3 s 8 n 0 J M e 9 r 0 e G United States Patent Ofiice 3,368,463 Patented Feb. 13, 1968 3,368,463 INFLATED PAVING-JOINT SEALER George M. Jones, 1134 East 4620 South, Salt Lake City, Utah 84107 Filed Aug. 12, 1965, Ser. No. 479,145 5 Claims. (Cl. 9418) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A paving joint sealing arrangement to prevent ingress of water and debris, comprising modular closed elastic tubular sections with mating concave and convex end formations installed just below the paving surface and conforming to its transverse curvature, and respective elastic end sections of closed hollowrectangular shape mating with the terminal tubular end sections installed to extend well above the curb line, all 'of said sections being inflated in situ to a pressure not exceeding about 20 pounds per square inch above atmospheric.

This invention pertains to pavement construction, such as employed for streets, roads, and most especially bridges; in particular, the invention aims to solve the problem of a joint sealer for preventing the ingress of water or debris into the expansion joint space which is always provided between concrete slabs or sections of the paving, transverse to the length of the roadway. Among the other advantages of the invention is the ease with which the improved sealing means can be installed as a replacement for the existing sealers of previously constructed pavements.

In the laying of pavements, particularly concrete slab pavements, it is conventional and necessary to provide expansion joints at least in the direction transverse to the direction of the roadway, these joints allowing the slabs to expand and contract lengthwise with changes in the weather, and preventing the buckling of the pavement which would otherwise result. If left open, the joints will admit water and debris such as stones, with the expected results of cracking or buckling of the slabs when the joint is prevented from closing (as the temperature rises) or by frost action when the temperature drops below freezing. It is conventional to fill the expansion joints with a mastic compound, bituminous material, plastic or the like, not only to allow free opening and closing of the joint, but to reduce the noise and impact as vehicles pass over the joint. It is well known that such sealing materials have numerous defects, in that they are incapable of expanding sufficiently, and sufliciently rapidly, to keep the joint closed" as the slabs contract, and also they are extruded out onto the roadway, during weather changes, and have to be replaced periodically with great expenditure of labor.

It is a principal object of my invention to provide a pavement joint sealing structure which is capable of a high degree of expansion and contraction to accommodate changes in position of the slab ends, and which will permanently and fully seal, fill or close off the join-t space at and just below the roadway surface. A further object of my invention is to provide such a sealing means in the form of a set of pneumatically inflatable closed resilient tubes and end sections of particular shapes, such that the sealer is effectively continuous, crosswise of the roadway, to prevent the ingress of water or other material into the joint for long periods without attention, but which can be re-inflated, whenever necessary, without removal and replacement of the entire sealing structure.

Another object of my invention is to provide a sealing assembly of the general type indicated, in which the selfadjusting sealing elements lying below the surface of the roadway itself are sectional and of modular lengths, so that any width of road or pavement can be sealed in this region, yet without the presence of leakage spaces between adjacent sealer sections. Still another object is to provide such an assembly with enlarged pneumatic end sections adapted to continue the sealing effect upward from the gutter or curb region at each side of the roadway sealing assembly, to ensure proper run-off of water and to prevent its leakage into the expansion joint spaces between the curbs of successive slabs.

In brief, my invention satisfies the above and other objects by the use of a transverse sealing assembly comprising a plurality of individual, lengthy hollow tubes of elastic material such as butyl rubber, formed at their respective ends with mating concave and convex end surfaces, and provided with respective inflating valves so that, after installation within the expansion joint spaces, the continuous assembly can be inflated from an air tank or the like to a desired pressure. At each end of the assembly, the terminal face of the outermost length of tubing, which is also curved, mates with a correspondingly curved region of an end section inflatable insert shaped to rise above the general level of the roadway, and to lie between the faces of the cur-b sections of the slabs. The mating curves of all of the terminal faces allow a suflicient angular accommodation of the parts so that the ends of longitudinal tubing sections will seal against one another, and against the end sections, despite normal curvatures resulting from the crown of the pavement. The end sections are likewise provided with accessible inflation valves.

The widthwise dimension of the tubing sections and the end sections is such that when deflated, they may be packed into existing expansion joint spaces, and thereafter inflated to provide a tight seal against all of the facing surfaces of the roadway and curbing material. The inflation pressure need not be high, as I have found ten or twenty pounds per square inch above atmospheric pressure is sufficient to ensure a good seal throughout normal expected temperature ranges, and the sections will contain such a pressure for many months or in some installations indefinitely. The valves of all the sections are placed so as to facilitate re-inflation when necessary through the crack spaces, as well as deflation and removal if such becomes desirable. By placing the tubular roadway sealing sections fairly near the road surface, the variable-depth slot that sometimes is present (as when the expansion joint has widened out) is still so shallow that no substantial or permanent accretion of stones or debris can occur. The expansion joint space below the sealer may be left open, or filled with cellular or bituminous material, as desired. While the sealers will normally be self-sustaining, as to vertical position, due to the pressure exerted against the expansion space walls, they may be supported from below by narrow ribs, shelves or brackets conventionally secured to the ends of the slabs.

The invention will now be described in considerable detail, in connection with a preferred embodiment thereof chosen to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of the expansion joint region between two pavement slabs, showing the invention installed in the joint space.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary elevation view of a portion of the same installation as in FIG. I, viewed from within the joint space, and with parts of the sealing assembly in vertical section.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through a wall of an end sealing element, taken substantially on line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a set of three schematic sectional views all taken on line 44 of FIG. 2, showing the cross-sectional shape of one of the roadway joint sealing elements in different conditions of lateral compression.

FIG. is an enlarged view of the left-hand portion of FIG. 2, more clearly showing the mating end faces of two adjacent sealing tubes, and indicating a preferred form of inflation valve arrangement.

Referring first to FIG. 1 of the drawings, numerals and 12 designate two adjacent slabs of a concrete roadway, the joint space between their ends, provided to allow expansion, being indicated at 14. A portion of slab 12 has been broken away to expose the joint face of slab 10 in elevation, with the novel joint-sealing means being shown generally at numeral 16. The joint space or expansion interval is continuous across the width of the paving, as shown, and passes not only along the slabs but upward at each end to provide a similar joint space between adjacent curb formations 18 and 20. The roadway gutter at the right edge of the roadway is indicated at 22.

The sealing means indicated as a whole at number 16 actually comprises a plurality of modular lengths 24 of hollow closed-end tubular construction, formed of flexible and slightly elastic stock such as rubber, synthetic rubber or the like, as better shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. One end of each such element (the left end, in the drawings, for example) is molded to a concave (preferably semi-spherical) shape as at 26, to mate with the right end 28 of the adjacent element, formed of complementary convex shape, so that when several of the elements are placed end-toend in the expansion space, and suitably inflated, both the expansion space and the space between ends of the elements 24 will be entirely filled or closed against the passage of moisture, gravel or the like. Preferably, as indicated at 30 in FIGS. 1 and 4-A, the facing end surfaces of the slabs 10 and 12 are provided, in any desired or known manner, with narrow ribs or shelves which will establish the vertical location of the tubular sections, without interfering with the motions of the slab ends during expansion and contraction. These ribs may be welded to the end or corner plates 32 sometimes provided at the slab joints of such pavements, or molded into the concrete in connection with its casting in the forms.

As the slabs 10 and 12 expand, their proximate ends move toward one another, compressing the inflated sealing elements 24 across the diametral plane of each, and distorting them into the oval cross-section indicated at FIGS. 4B and 4-C. Depending upon the width of the joint space when the sealers are installed, they may initially have an oval shape, subject to reshaping as expansion or contraction occurs thereafter. Only a few pounds of air pressure above atmospheric pressure are required to provide a tight seal throughout normal climatic changes, effectively preventing the admission of water into the seal space, as well as precluding the entry of solid matter which might interfere with free expansion of the slabs at a later time. As the slabs contact the cold, the tubular elements expand in horizontal diameter at the expense of vertical diameter, maintaining the joint space closed.

Water and the like crossing the crowned roadway and entering the gutter region 22 (FIG. 1) should also be prevented from entering the joint via the crack between the curb sections. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, each of these curbing joint spaces is filled with an end sealing unit 34 also formed as a hollow elastic and flexible unit, of narrow rectangular construction adapted to be inserted in this joint space and then inflated, via an air valve 36 placed for access at or adjacent the gutter space. Where the adjacent tubular section 24 abuts the end well of unit 34, the latter has a molded concave depression 38 to mate with the convex right end 28 of the tubular unit, to ensure effectiveness of the seal despite slight angular motions of the parts.

FIG. 5 details a preferred form of inflating valve arrangement for the tubular sections. In a face of each section which will be uppermost when installed, a recess 40 is molded, its inner wall supporting a conventional air valve 42, thus allowing a flush cap or closure plug 44 to be snapped into the recess opening to protect the valve structure. The cap can readily be snapped out of the opening, when desired, by any sharp instrument inserted between the cap edge and the margin of the recess.

The sealer of the invention is easily installed by packing the deflated tubular sections and end elements into existing joints which have been thoroughly cleaned out to the necessary depth, or entirely cleared and filled to a suitable level with ordinary fillers such as tar, bituminous or cellular material, and the sections then inflated as necessary in accordance with the width of the joint gap. The same installation is made in the case of new paving after removal of the spacing boards of the form lumber. Insertion of the rather extensive end sections 34 is facilitated by making them with round corners as indicated in FIG. 3. In all cases, soapy water first applied to the sealers will ease their entrance even into narrow slots. Air leakage is found to be very slight, and any undesirable pressure loss can readily be corrected as required, or seasonally, through the readily accessible valves.

While the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration and to allow those skilled in this art to practice the same, it is not intended to limit the invention to such details except as may be required by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A sealing construction for the expansion joints between the confronting faces of roadway paving slabs, comprising a generally tubular flexible member extending from end to end of the joint space and closely approaching the roadway surface, said member being formed of a plurality of hermetically closed sections arranged end-toend and having complementary curved end faces mating with the ends of adjacent sections; said sections being inflated to a relatively low pressure over atmospheric, to conform elastically to variations in the joint space as the slabs expand and contract.

2. A sealing construction in accordance with claim 1, including an inflated end section of hollow flexible construction within the joint space at each end of the pavingedge curbing regions, each end section being in contact with an end of the proximate tubular member, and being disposed predominately above the axis of said member.

3. A sealing construction in accordance with claim 1, in which said each of said sections includes an air valve to allow inflation thereof.

4. An expansion joint sealer element for paving construction, comprising an elongated hollow tubular member formed of heavy-gauge elastic material capable of retaining air under pressure and provided at its respective ends with complementary concave and convex end faces; and inflation valve means mounted on a lateral surface of said member.

5. An expansion joint element in accordance with claim 4, including a recess molded into a lateral surface of said member, said valve means being disposed within said recess, and cap means for closing off said recess.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,251,672 8/1941 Friberg 94-18 X 2,910,921 11/ 1959 Freyssinet.

3,108,813 10/1963 Brown et a1. 9418 X 3,124,047 3/1964 Graham 9418 3,124,852 3/1964 Holderer 49477 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,190,158 4/1965 Germany.

JACOB L. NACKENOFF, Primary Examiner. 

